USA– Voltree Power (www.voltreepower.com) today announced that its “Javelin” product family has won the coveted 2009 “Best of What’s New” award from Popular Science magazine in the Green Tech category. Javelin was chosen from among thousands of entrants.

Voltree Power’s Javelin products enable the collection and transmission of sensor data from hard-to-reach areas. For example, the US Forest Service (USFS) has ordered Voltree’s Javelin “Rapid Deploy” to be used to monitor prescribed as well as “live” fires. This is the first ever system capable of collecting microclimate data from under the canopy of forested land and transmitting it via the existent Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES) network. The data collected will be used to model the behavior of forest fires and help in strategically pre-deploying firefighting resources. Voltree’s Javelin technology integrates seamlessly with existent government-owned Remote Automated Weather Stations, extending their usefulness.

The Javelin Rapid Deploy system is a reusable sensor and transceiver node that is designed to be deployed quickly, and automatically form a mesh network with other such nodes. In its current configuration, each 6.5-foot, shaft-like Javelin houses a radio transmitter, GPS receiver and a sensor suite that measures air temperature, relative humidity, wind speed and wind direction as well as pressure and precipitation. The Rapid Deploy Javelin can be integrated with many other existing sensors from a variety of manufacturers and can be made compliant with the National Fire Danger Rating System (or NFDRS, the system used by wildland fire management agencies to assess current fire danger at local and national levels).

Voltree is also planning the deployment of Javelin “Lifetime” nodes whose long-lifetime rechargeable batteries will be kept topped-off using Voltree’s patented bioenergy harvesting module that converts the metabolic energy of trees into usable electricity. The Javelin Lifetime, which is expected to include a wildfire alert feature in addition to climate sensing capabilities similar to the Rapid Deploy, is designed to be left in the field over the long term requiring minimum maintenance.

“For 22 years, Popular Science has honored the innovations that surprise and amaze us – those that make a positive impact on our world today and challenge our views of what’s possible in the future,” said Mark Jannot, Editor-in-Chief of Popular Science. “The Best of What’s New Award is the magazine’s top honor, and the 100 winners – chosen from among thousands of entrants – represent the highest level of achievement in their fields.” “We are beyond excited to get such early, prestigious recognition with this Popular Science Best of What’s New Award,” said Stella Karavas, founder and CEO of Voltree Power. “At Voltree, our mission is to integrate emerging and innovative technologies into large-scale monitoring solutions that are easy to use and cost-effective while being environmentally responsible. We see this award in the Green Tech category as the perfect validation of the work we have done so far, and what we are trying to achieve.” About Best of What’s New Each year, the editors of Popular Science review thousands of products in search of the top 100 tech innovations of the year; breakthrough products and technologies that represent a significant leap in their categories. The winners the Best of What’s New are awarded inclusion in the much-anticipated December issue of Popular Science, the most widely read issue of the year since the debut of Best of What’s New in 1987. Best of What’s New awards are presented to 100 new products and technologies in 11 categories: Automotive, Aviation & Space, Computing, Engineering, Gadgets, Green Tech, Home Entertainment, Security, Home Tech, Personal Health and Recreation.

About Popular Science Founded in 1872, Popular Science (www.popsci.com) is the world’s largest science and technology magazine, with a circulation of 1.3 million and 7.1 million readers. Each month, Popular Science delivers “The Future Now,” reporting on the intersection of science and everyday life with an eye toward what’s new and why it matters. Popular Science is published by the Bonnier Corporation (www.bonniercorp.com), one of the largest consumer publishing groups in America and the leading media company serving passionate, highly engaged audiences through more than 40 special-interest magazines and related multimedia projects and events.

About Voltree Power (www.voltreepower.com) Voltree Power is leading the way in the practical integration of three distinct technologies: energy harvesting, lower-power radios, and wireless mesh networks. Such integration offers solutions for numerous remote-sensing applications that include forest fire detection and prediction, agricultural sensing, waterway/reservoir monitoring, and hydrology as well as border and other remote location surveillance of motion, heat, and radiation under triple canopy.

Voltree’s patented “Bioenergy Harvester” converts metabolic plant energy into usable electricity. It is a pioneering alternative to the battery that eliminates the impracticality of battery replacement in extensive mesh networks. Voltree’s Javelin family consists of two product lines; one that incorporates the bioenergy harvester technology and one that utilizes battery pack replacement for placement versatility.

Voltree Power offices and manufacturing facility are based in Canton, Massachusetts U.S.A.